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Robot Wars Wiki:Style Guide
The Style Guide is a guideline for the style of articles on the wiki. The purpose of the guide is to ensure consistency across the wiki and to avoid disputes over preferred styles. These guidelines are not official policies of the wiki, so users do not risk punishment for not following them. Also, the content of an article will always take precedence over the style of it, so please do not remove content from a page just because it is not formatted properly. Please either format the article yourself or add the tag to the article. These guidelines are not set in stone and discussion of more effective ideas is welcomed on the talk page. However, please wait until the new guidelines have been discussed and approved before changing them on this page. Style Guidelines Newcomers and Veterans See Robot Wars Wiki:Style Guide/Newcomer-Veteran Distinction Robot Names See Robot Wars Wiki:Style Guide/Robot Names Roman Numerals Always use the actual digit rather than roman numerals in all situations. For example, 'Storm 2' rather than 'Storm II'. This way, we can avoid disputes over which format is correct for each individual robot and keep the names consistent across the wiki. The only exception to this rule is when the roman numeral is not pronounced as a simple number, such as 'Rameses II' which is pronounced 'Rameses the Second', so calling it 'Rameses 2' would not be appropriate. Language As a general rule, British spellings are preferred over American ones, as Robot Wars was most popular as a British programme. For example, "honour" rather than "honor" and "metre" rather than "meter". However, American spellings are acceptable on articles about the American series and American robots. For articles about series and robots from neither the UK nor the USA, neither the British nor the American spellings are preferred, but please try to keep the spelling consistent across the article. When writing about a competitor robot, please use the pronoun "it" instead of "they." "They" is only used as gender-neutral-singular for sentient beings, which the competitors are not considered to be. For example, "Panic Attack was the first robot to compete in Heat F. In the Gauntlet, it took the centre route and, after a nervy start, made it onto the ramp". House Robot are treated differently, and words like "he" and "she" should be used, just like they were on the show. In most cases abbreviations are not accepted on the wiki and full names should be used at all times. For example, Wheely Big Cheese should never be abbreviated to "WBC" and Spirit of Knightmare should not be "SoK". Unless directed to act otherwise, please write all content in the past tense, since the events are not happening as you write them, or for a review. Also, please avoid using exclamation marks in articles except in quotes, as using them instead of full stops makes the articles appear less professional. Content Articles should be created for subjects that are directly related to the Robot Wars TV series. This includes robots, competitions, presenters and commentators, official merchandise and terms used on the programme, among other things. Please only start an article if you have enough information to make a proper article. Please do not start a page with just one or two sentences, unless you intend to expand the article in the near future. Articles should include information which is accurate, well-written and informative to the reader. All information must be verifiable and completely relevant to the subject of the article. Articles should also include the relevant templates where necessary and the relevant categories at the bottom to make navigation around the wiki easier. Trivia Trivia are small facts about the subject of the page deemed not important enough for the main description. As a general rule, statistical facts, individualities (ie "the only robot to..."), and non-honour superlatives are trivia, whilst name origins and appearances outside Robot Wars are not. Nothing from the main description of the article should be repeated in the trivia section, and vice-versa. Trivia should be as general as possible. (eg if a robot was the only robot to achieve a feat, it should be listed at "the only robot to..." rather than "the only robot in its weight class to...") Do not start a trivia sentence with a qualifier like "Interestingly" or "Notably." It is redundant, because all trivia must be notable or interesting. Categories When adding a category to a robot, use the most specific category possible, and do not bother with categories that are implied by another one being there. ::For example, Warhog's record puts it in the category "Robots with multiple appearances without winning a battle". While it is true that Warhog also has more losses than wins, and has never won a battle, it does not have those two categories listed on its page because they are implied, ie they must be true if the "multiple appearances without winning a battle" category is listed. Erroneous categories are very time consuming to undo, so to save time and grief please ask in the talk section before designating a new category to a large number of robots,. General Grammar When inserting new information, please be wary of how the existent information is affected. It is very easy to turn a sentence into a run-on without immediately noticing. Consider starting a new sentence if the existing one has several clauses already. At the same time, please avoid sentence fragments - at minimum a sentence needs a subject and a non-progressive verb. The word for "belonging to it" is spelled "its" with no apostrophe. "It's," with the apostrophe, is used only as a contraction of "it is," and is virtually never used on this Wiki because the majority of articles are written in past tense. Please avoid contractions in articles; the words should be spelled out in encyclopedic writing. Contractions of "not" (didn't, couldn't, etc.) are acceptable but please use them sparingly. The past tense of "spin" is "spun," not "span". The word "however" is a synonym of "in spite of it." It should be used only as such, and not to connect unrelated or non-contradictory thoughts. *'Examples': **''The robot returned with thicker armour. However, it was easily destroyed by its opponent.'' **''The robot's main weapon was an axe. However, it failed to make a dent in its opponent's shell.'' *'Non-Examples': **''The robot's main weapon was an axe. However, it was easily destroyed by its opponent.'' **''The robot returned with thicker armour. However, it failed to make a dent in its opponent's shell.'' Consecutive sentences (or clauses) should not both contain the same adverb. Please be especially wary of the "non -ly" adverbs (eg, "however," "then," "before," "after," etc.) and all synonyms of those words, as they are particularly easy to overuse. "Ironic" describes an occurrence that contradicts the established principles, truths, and expectations in an amusing or comedic way. It does not describe every scenario that is unexpected or coincidental, or anything befitting of the robot's name. Please err on the side of caution; when in doubt, leave it out. *'Example': **''Tsunami's goal was to flip every opponent out of the arena. Ironically, it was flipped out itself in its final match.'' *'Non-examples': **''Namazu's name was based on an earthquake-causing catfish. This is ironic considering the damage it did to the arena floor.'' **''Ironically, Pinser broke down over the same flame vent as in its other battle.'' When referring to a battle decision made by the judges, the correct grammar is judges' decision, meaning "decision of multiple judges". Examples of incorrect grammar include judge's decision (which would imply that the decision is made by only one judge) and judges decision (which does not correctly imply possession as there is no apostrophe). Similarly, when referring to the melee that sometimes took place between losing robots from a particular round, the standard grammar used on the wiki is Losers Melee, which is how it was usually written on the show. Losers' Melee is also acceptable as it is grammatically correct, but the format used on the show is preferred. One format which should not be used is Loser's Melee, as this implies that the melee is fought by a single loser.